BREAST CANCER SCREENING IN THE NORTH EAST

That this House applauds the tremendous progress made in recent years to increase access to cancer screening and to prevent premature deaths; congratulates the Government and dedicated staff for the fact that cases of breast cancer picked up by screening have already doubled in the North East over the last decade, which should provide further assurance to women that breast checks are effective; notes that 95,605 women were screened in 2009 and 731 cases of cancer were detected of which 589 were invasive; and further notes that the current target age range is between 50 and 70 years old, but that the widening of the screening programme from April 2008 included those aged between 47 and 73 years, with full coverage expected in 2015.